Electronic Forms Processing

What is an electronic form (e-form)?

An electronic form, or e-form, is a dynamic document that captures information. E-forms can be downloaded by a customer for use at anytime, online or off. The e-forms can then be submitted back and added to FileHold for data extraction and storage. The entire form is stored electronically and can be put into a workflow for further review and approval such as the case with expense reports.

Any type of form such as invoices, expense reports, job applications, permits, or requests that is used to collect and track information can be transformed into a PDF e-form using a third party tool such as Adobe Acrobat Professional.

Benefits of electronic forms (e-forms)

• User-friendly PDF forms: E-forms can be filled out and submitted or added to the document management system easily using the widely-known and used software such as Adobe Reader. Forms can be pre-populated with data, such as in drop-down lists and date pickers, saving users valuable data entry time and ensuring consistency.
• Accuracy: E-forms improve the accuracy of data collected by ensuring the data type and format is correct. For example, if a person was filling out a job application and attempted to enter a letter in the social security number field, this would not be allowed. It also improves the accuracy of the metadata collected on the form when it is added to the document management system. Since the values on the e-form can be automatically extracted, this removes the level of error that comes with manual entry.
• Availability: E-forms can be made available at anytime or anywhere when there is an internet connection and/or computer available. E-forms can be placed on corporate web sites or be made accessible via the Anonymous Portal or Customer Forms portal.
• Automation: Using the PDF extraction rules in the document management system, there is no limit to the amount of information you can collect via e-forms. The data is automatically extracted from the e-form and formatted to match your schemas and metadata fields. There is no manual entry of metadata required.
• Cost Savings: E-forms reduce user errors, decrease processing time, and eliminate the costs of printing, mailing and storing traditional forms.
• Efficiency: E-forms streamline the processing of forms such as expense reports, invoices, and registrations. After an e-form has been filled out and added to the document management system, it can then undergo a workflow process (review or approval) for further processing.

See electronic forms in action!

If you would like a live demonstration of how PDF forms can be used to extract the values in the content controls into the metadata fields of FileHold, please download a copy of one of the e-forms below, fill it out, and email it to [email protected]. The following is a sample of an electronic form that have been created by FileHold. To save the file, right-click on the document name and select Save Link As...

• Employee Information (PDF)

"Today’s economy will force decisions around IT cost cutting and optimization. There aren’t that many supplemental technologies that enterprises can implement with relative ease to generate value almost immediately. But given the costs of paper production, processing, and delivery, electronic forms solutions can always save money, always save paper and the environment, always create more productive, happier users, and always make data more accurate. Data accuracy alone can save thousands of dollars in many business processes. The world has been waiting for this technology to mature. The eForms providers have reached the point where they can deliver productivity and profitability across a range of adoption models - from low impact business user authoring to very sophisticated long run process automation."
- Toby Bell, Gartner Group, November 2008